Bulldogs place seventh at Tolono Unity Sectional
By Fred Kroner
Mahomet-Seymour senior Ariana Lingard was a near-miss on Thursday (May 12) in her bid to qualify for the girls’ Class 2A track and field state meet.
The Bulldog sprinter placed third in the 100-meter dash at the Tolono Unity Sectional. Her time was 12.77 seconds.
The top two placers in every event automatically qualified for state. Lingard’s time was .03 behind the meet runner-up.
One other Bulldog also had a third-place finish at the sectional.
Meah Beacham’s top triple jump mark was 32 feet, 6 inches. She was seven inches behind the second-place finisher.
In the team race, Mount Zion was the winner with 113 points followed by Tolono Unity (74 ½ points). M-S was seventh in the 16-school field with 33 points.
M-S athletes secured top-10 finishes in seven other individual events as well as all four relays.
In running events, Amaya Francom was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles (53.03 seconds), Ava Boyd was seventh in the 1,600 meters (5:41.40) and Elizabeth Sims was 10th in the 1,600 meters (5:59.93).
In field events, Grace Rodebaugh was fourth in the shot put (30 feet, 7 inches), Kelsie Fuoss was fourth in the pole vault (9 feet, 3 inches) and eighth in the long jump (14 feet, 8 inches). Kendyl Petro ended eighth in the shot put (28 feet, 8 inches).
Two relays consisted of the same set of runners.
Lingard, Fuoss, Beacham and Lauren Burr placed fourth in the 800-meter relay (1:53.08) and fifth in the 400-meter relay (51.79 seconds).
M-S’ 3,200-meter relay took fourth. Sharing the baton were Sims, Chloe Bundren, Boyd and Chloe Allen. Their combined time was 10:18.40.
The Bulldogs’ 1,600-meter relay ended fifth, topping the clock in 4:30.88. Joining forces on the relay were Lingard, Allen, Bundren and Burr.
M-S will return to action on Monday (May 16) in The News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet, at Urbana.
